Top 5: East African jazz musicians

However, the 21st century has seen a tremendous growth in East African jazz thanks to an increase in cooperate sponsorships and the number of venues that host jazz events. The urban scenes in the bigger East African cities are also bustling, with many musicians becoming more and more influenced by the sound of jazz.

Music In Africa looks at five East African artists who have embraced the endless possibilities of jazz and created their own definitive styles.

Isaiah Katumwa (Uganda)

The self-taught saxophonist has been making music for more than 20 years and has shared the stage with global icons such as Manu Dibangu, Jonathan Butler, Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba. Katumwa’s style is described as smooth and his crusade to promote jazz music in Uganda has seen him hosting Jazz With Isaiah, which airs on Urban TV Uganda, and The Isaiah Katumwa Show on 106.1 Jazz FM. He also founded the Talanta Music Mentorship Programme, through which he teaches young Ugandan musicians how to sing and play musical instruments.

Eddie Grey (Kenya)

The guitarist, composer, arranger and producer has performed and collaborated with some of Africa’s top jazz musicians including the father of Ethio-jazz Mulatu Astatke (featured here). Grey’s style involves creating distinctive indigenous sounds that he fuses with jazz. His passion for jazz has seen him introduce Jazz Attitude, a series that feature live performances by Kenyan artists at the Alchemist Bar in Nairobi.

Remmy Lubega (Uganda)

The Rwanda-based Ugandan musician started off as a music manager for the Ugandan girl dancehall group, Obsessions. When the group split up in 2013, Lubega left Uganda for Rwanda and in 2014 he begun a monthly saxophone-themed event dubbed Lovers’ Valentine.

In 2015, he met up with Ugandan saxophonist Herbert Rock and together they auditioned musicians who later became members of the Neptunez Band.

Lubega and his band hold the monthly Jazz Junction series, which feature local and international artists at Kigali Serena Hotel.

Christine Kamau (Kenya)

She is one of the only Kenyan female jazz multi-instrumentalists. The trumpeter and saxophonists has performed at various local and international concerts and festivals. Her style of music involves the fusion of jazz, benga and rumba.

Kamau is also the founder and host of the Women in Music Concert Series, which seeks to facilitate interaction between female professionals in the Kenyan music industry and provide business opportunities, a performance platform and learning opportunities for young musicians.

Mulatu Astatke (Ethiopia)

The 73-year-old maestro is a music advisor, DJ and the progenitor of Ethiopian jazz, which is now known worldwide as Ethio-jazz. Astatke plays the piano, organ, vibraphone and percussion. His exposure to different styles of jazz while studying music in London allowed him to fuse traditional Ethiopian music with Latino sounds and funk, which led to a concoction defined by slow grooves and an eerie atmosphere.